Bridgehampton gets an historic district..... page 5
THE AMAGANSETT
STAR REVUE
FREE RANGE
DECEMBER 2023 INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM
92 years of LI Duck Christmas! by George Fiala (with help from The Big Duck, by Dr. Susan Van Scoy)
T
here was once a time when Route 24 was part of the route to the Hamptons. Driving with my parents in the 1960's is what imprinted the Big Duck in my mind. It was something I pretty much forgot until I began my turtle odyssey (issue #2 of this paper) and had to drive to Jamesport. The next month I drove to the Woodside Orchards, and last issue to the Modern Snack Bar. Each time I passed by the Duck, but each time I was kind of in a hurry and didn't stop. Finally, on my latest trip to the Snack Bar to drop off the last issue and pick up some stuff for Thanksgiving, I had time to stop. Before I continue, I have to add one more giant roadside attraction that I have encountered. I went to college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and for a couple years worked at a radio staion near York. Driving to work on Route 30 I used to pass by a giant shoe, which is very reminiscent of The Duck. The Shoe was meant to whimsically be the house of the "Old Woman" who lived in it. It was built in 1948 by a shoe salesman. The Duck was built in 1931, and housed a store selling ducks and duck eggs. Martin Maurer was the half own-
This is the Big Shoe (where the old woman lived) which is in Pennsylvania.
er of a duck farm. On a trip during the Depression to Los Angeles, he had a cup of coffee in a coffee shop shaped like a percolator. He reportedly spent almost $4,000 of 1931 money to build his big idea. It's original location was in Upper Mills, Riverhead, but by 1936 Maurer was so successful with the duck that he bought his own farm and moved the duck to Route 24. Maurer retired in 1951 and sold the farm to the Dessons. The Duck was such a landmark that Desson, who was a chicken farmer, sourced ducks from Aquebogue and kept selling them inside the Duck, along with his chickens. Maude Desson worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week every year from March to Thanksgiving, when they closed for the season. According to Dr. Van Soy, customers included Carl Yastrzemski's mother, Alistair Cooke and the food critic Craig Claiborne. The Duck was next sold in 1972, to Jean and Marie Colombo, who changed things up a bit. They concentrated on raising chickens, along with some turkeys, sheep and Muscovy ducks. They sold rotisserie chicken from inside the Big Duck, and transformed other buildings on the property into an antique shed, sandwich and pastry shops. The sturdily built Duck weathered all storms and continued to feature glowing red eyes (illuminated with automobile headlights). The Colombo's sold it in 1982 to a
sculptor and his wife (the Eshgis), who hoped to transform the property into an artist residence, however this change of usage was not allowed and The Duck became empty and neglected. A campaign was started to save the Duck, and in 1987, the Eshgis donated the Duck to Suffolk County. It was moved a few miles south on 24, to Sears Bellows County Park. It remained at the park for 20 years, when the Town of Southampton decided to move it back to it's previous location on 24. It turned out that the sculptor had sold the land to a real estate developer. The developer never developed anything, so the land was bought by the Town and brought the Duck back home. The next year it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has stayed put.
The artist Saul Steinberg, a longtime Amagansett resident, like to paint the Big Duck. This was the cover of The New Yorker, and a print of it is for sale in the gift shop that has replaced duck selling inside the duck. There's lots of other LI themed souvenirs available, not to mention plush duck toys, available just in time for the holidays!
